Classism – n.; 1) discrimination on basis of social standing; 2) something Marx greatly disliked.
Classism. That’s the prevalent evil in our society today. Well, maybe it isn’t, but it certainly is noticeable. I get to see both sides of it most days, and I usually don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
For starters, in effort to pay for college, I work at Jimmy John’s. Now, all of you reading this probably know what time customers from SLU come in most often: anytime after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and lately that has increased to almost every day of the week except Sunday. Now, obviously, aside from the occasional studious individual, we all know what everyone is doing awake that late on a college campus or in a sandwich shop, and it is most definitely not reading a book. So, until we close at 4 a.m., the store has a steady stream of drunken college students coming in to buy sandwiches, sometimes two in one sitting, sometimes one to go after they eat another … you know, a lot of food. All in all, this is just fine. I never knew until now how friendly drunks can be, including any of you who have randomly tipped me for making a sandwich, as though it were a hard task. We at Jimmy John’s enjoy this.
Occasionally, though, you get the disgruntled type. You all know who I mean. The guy who isn’t welcome at parties anymore because he always gets too drunk and breaks a chair, then won’t stop apologizing, and refuses to leave until he gets thrown out. Now, when this guy comes into the store, he gets very irate if we’re out of bread for 30 seconds. He usually starts yelling at us, telling us all to quit being so lazy, why can’t we make him food, are we that incompetent, we only work at Jimmy John’s, it can’t be that hard, can we even read, blah blah blah … and there you have it.
Classism. He automatically assumes, using his “college education,” that anyone who works at Jimmy John’s is of lower class and intelligence than he is. This guy is usually so drunk that he can’t even count his money or remember what he ordered. More aggravating, assuming that everyone behind the counter is dumber than you is a form of prejudice that goes unnoticed today, due in large part to its blindness to color or sex. When this guy comes in and starts in on us (about half of whom go to college or have degrees and just need to pay rent for now), he has no idea what he is talking about, possibly because he has never worked a day in his life.
The flipside of this is far funnier. I quote someone a few years older than me, at a party, who asked me in all seriousness, “Why you wanna be smarter than me?” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. The flipside is that education, in no way, is good in and of itself. It is simply a marker of social status. I run into this all the time, as well. Given some of my past jobs, I know these people. They scare me sometimes, because they honestly take offense to me reading a book. Why I wanna be smarter than you? Rethink the way you asked me that question, and realize why I would like to at least be able to properly use the language I speak.
Marshall Johnson is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
